All Crime Is Personal

Mark Schons

With the economy the way it is and everyone struggling financially to keep their heads above water, we can understand the stress and even the dark thoughts to end it all, what we can’t understand is the father that decides not only to end his life, but the lives of his wife and two sons first. That is the case in this story coming to us from my home state, Michigan. Let’s get to it shall we.

On January 13th Police in Novi, MI, received a call from a family friend after Camden Schons (4) and Tynan Schons (6) did not show up for school and their mother Jennifer Schons (38) missed a scheduled appointment. Officers went to their home around noon for a welfare check; inside they found their bodies. Jennifer was in her room and had died of multiple stab wounds. The boys were found in another room both had been choked to death. The father Mark Schons (39) was not in the house, so an alert was issued for his vehicle. Two hours later he was found in a Lowe’s (Wal-Mart in some articles) parking lot, he had died of an apparent suicide. He had lit a charcoal grill in the passenger seat of his SUV and died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Now I can understand him wanting to end his life and even doing so in the easiest way possible, but this cowardly man stabbed his wife and choked his two sons to death, then he takes his ass out by carbon monoxide, essentially putting himself to sleep permanently. Where was that mercy when he was taking the lives of his family? Here’s an even better idea if you really want to end it all, do it, but leave your wife and kids out of it!

The motive is unknown, as suicide note has been found. According to family the Schons owned a now-defunct party-supply store, were deep in debt, had filed for bankruptcy in December and were considering divorce, although they continued to live in the same residence.

The police are looking into the 19-20 hours prior to the murders/suicide to see what may have triggered Mark to make his fateful decision. Novi Police Chief Molloy said, “We may never know what triggered this event, but we will know everything about these people and what led to this.”